This September I had the unique opportunity to work with the U.S. eventing team as one of the U.S.E.T. physicians, behind the scenes at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain. I'd like to share some of the activities that took place, to prepare the U.S. eventing team for their eventual gold medal rides.
The short and long listed riders and horses selected for the United States Equestrian Team (USET) eventing team spent two weeks before the Games at Captain Mark Phillips "yard" in England tuning up and awaiting the naming of the final group of four team members (David O'Connor on Giltedge, John Williams riding Carrick, Area VII's Amy Tryon riding Poggio II or My Beau, and Kim Vinoski-Severson riding Winsome Adante or Royal Venture) and the two individuals (Darren Chaicchia aboard RG Renegade and Gina Miles riding McKinlaigh) who would represent the United States and would make the trip to Spain. The horses from the British, New Zealand, Irish and United States teams were loaded up on a DHL cargo plane Monday morning, September 9th, outside London, along with the grooms and team veterinarians. The journey was an uneventful nonstop trip to Jerez de la Frontera, which is an hour south of Seville and almost on the Atlantic coast near Gibraltar. Normally when horses are transported via air, they are loaded on a pallet on the ground, which is then lifted onto the plane. However, on this particular flight, the horses were walked up a ramp into the plane, and then into a partially constructed pallet that was then finished around them.
The care and precision that characterized the transportation of the horses contrasted sharply with the circuitous trip endured by the riders. Unfortunately, the riders missed their plane in England, arrived late in Madrid, and then had to fend for themselves to arrange transportation to Jerez.
This area of Spain, the Andalusia region, is quite rich in equestrian history, as well as the starting point of Christopher Columbus's journey to "discover" the Americas. Although the coast is nearby, the land is very arid. The first week of the Games was surprisingly hot for that time of year, with temperatures in the mid 90's and high humidity.
The stables for all disciplines and the competition sites for dressage, show jumping, vaulting, reining and driving were in the middle of town, at Chapin Stadium. Cross country and endurance were about 15 miles away. This city-center location for the stadium was convenient, as the team hotel was nearby. Unfortunately for the grooms, their accommodations weren't by any standards plush. They were housed in small trailers on the grounds behind the stables, with very limited facilities (toilets, showers, food, etc.), to say the least. They were typically up by 5:00 or 6:00 am and didn't finish with the horses until after 11:00 p.m. After observing the incredibly long hours and hard work that the grooms do during an international competition such as this, it gave me a great appreciation for their devotion to the horses and team riders.
On Wednesday evening, September 11th, eight of the US team horses were presented at the first veterinary inspection with Amy Tryon and Kim Vinoski-Severson presenting two horses each. All eight horses passed without problems. Later that evening, having walked the cross country course several times and consulting with the riders, Captain Mark Phillips and Jim Graham made the final decision and officially listed the horse and rider combinations. Amy Tryon would ride Poggio II and Kim Vinoski-Severson would ride her 2002 Rolex CCI**** winner, Winsome Andante. Area VII's own Becky Broussard graciously hosted a USET party at the team hotel that evening, including a flamenco demonstration which served as the only opportunity for all the disciplines to mingle socially before the competition started.
For those who have never been to Spain, they definitely operate on a different time schedule than the rest of us. They start their days late, take off for a long break in the afternoon and don't even think of eating dinner until after 9:00 or 10:00 at night. The competition schedule reflected this, with dressage starting at 10:00 am, an afternoon break from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., and then continuing on until 8:00 p.m.
The eventing dressage phase took place on Thursday and Friday with three of our riders performing their test on each of those days. The test was the same one used this year at Rolex. Amy Tryon was nervous going into her test with Poggio II, as his strong suit is cross-countrybut he turned in one of his personal best dressage scores at this level. For this competition, the top three scores are used to determine team placement. Their individual scores (including team members and those riding as individuals) were used for the individual medals
Everyone walked the cross country course several times Thursday and Friday. It was located in Garrapilos, approximately 25 kilometers from Jerez. The course builders did a superb job of taking a desert landscape and transforming it into manicured green grassy galloping lanes, which looked quite out of place in that location. The general consensus among the riders and coaches was that this was going to be a demanding course with 30 obstacles and 44 jump efforts, although it did have plenty of options. Michael Tucker from Great Britain, who designed this course, was brave enough to answer questions about the course at a presentation Friday afternoon, which generated lively discussion at times. While the top teams would be sufficiently challenged, many felt that the remaining teams would have many problems on this course, even with the options. Safety has been highlighted as a great concern for the sport recently, especially with the IOC questioning whether to keep eventing in the 2008 Olympics.
It was interesting to see how strategies differ for team competitions, as compared to other events for individuals. The team coach really plays an important role here, knowing what each members' strengths are and when to "play it safe," as well as making necessary adjustments throughout the competition with the goal to get at least three team members through all phases. This was most apparent during cross country, where there was an evolving game plan throughout the competition. Captain Mark Phillips sent several people out at the beginning of cross country to report on how various obstacles were riding and to time the options if they were used. Luckily for the horses, riders and spectators, we had a break with the weather, as Saturday was slightly overcast and in the upper 70's, compared to the rest of the very hot and humid week. The horses were taken to the cross-country complex in a caravan at 6:30 in the morning in rented lorries. This meant that all cross country equipment had to be packed up Friday night and ready to be loaded very early in the morning. They actually blocked off the road out to the cross country course for 30 minutes that morning to get the trailers there without having to compete with other traffic.
As expected, the course was difficult and there were 22 falls spread out over a number of jumps and no one made it clear without time penalties. Surprisingly, several of the options took no additional time. David O'Connor rode conservatively and finished clear but had approximately 30 time penalties. John Williams had a clear round but had only three time penalties which moved him up to the top of the leader board. Amy Tryon rode the first half of the course without problems, but unfortunately took an uncharacteristic and very hard fall on the second element of the Euro jump (#15). She had the wind knocked out of her and after she got up had to wait for her horse to be returned to her before she could remount and continue on course. Despite this setback and in great pain, she amazingly made it through the rest of the course without jump penalties. Kim Vinoski-Severson was the last rider of the day and made the most of it, coming home clean with the fastest time of the day. With her score, Team USA was solidly in the gold medal position!
The USA was one of the few teams that would still have all four team members riding on Sunday. Indeed, we were the only country for which all six combinations would complete the entire competition. Luckily, with the temperatures more moderate, the horses all recovered well from the rigors of the speed and endurance day. Following cross-country the horses were loaded up to make the trip back to the stables in Jerez. I was surprised by the amount of work that needed to be done after cross country to ready the horses for the next day. It was a very late night for the grooms and team vets.
The last trot up early Sunday morning was under clear skies. Only Darren Chaicchia's RG Renegade was held but then passed after a second trot. With the US team in the lead, and John Williams holding onto first place in individual standings, the pressure was obvious. However, I was continually impressed with the camaraderie and support that this team had for each other. Since riders jumped in reverse order, John Williams would have to wait until the very end of the day. Amy Tryon, despite her injuries, managed a stellar ride with only one rail down and no time penalties, which as the jumping progressed turned out to be an excellent round. David O'Connor, as the tried and true veteran of the team, turned in one of only three double clear rounds. The greatest burden of the day was on John Williams' shoulders as he began his ride. The USA team was now firmly in control of first place, but John found himself also in the individual lead with two rails in hand. This was not to be his day to double medal. John had rails down on the first two jumps and never quite recovered; he eventually ended up in fourth place individually. John's disappointment over not winning the individual title was tempered by the team's success in winning the gold medal. David O'Connor pointed out to his teammates in the celebration afterwards that the USA had not won a team gold in world competitions since 1974. As the team was honored at a joint USA-British party that afternoon, it was wonderful to see the pride that was evident in the team's family members as they watched on.
Those of us in Area VII should also be very proud of Amy Tryon. Not only did Area VII's "Eventing Firefighter" put in a gutsy performance by "playing through the pain" and ensuring that all four Team USA riders finished the competition, her WEG experience capped a stellar season in which she completed all four CCI**** events in the Northern Hemisphere on three different horsesplacing individually in two of them, coming away from another with a World Championship gold medal.
It was a privilege to work with the team and to share in the excitement and thrill of their success. I have gained a new appreciation for the sacrifices and determination that it has taken for these individuals and their horses to get to this level and look forward to supporting them in the future.
Mark Hart is a physician who practices in Portland, Oregon. He serves on the USEA Area VII council.